Frequently Asked Questions
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Below you will find answers to some of the more common questions pertaining to academics/courses selection, college admission, standardized testing, financial assistance, and NCAA/college athletics. The responses below are not intended to be doctrine; rather, they are meant to stimulate thought and action on your part. Academics: Standardized Test: College Planning: NCAA/College
Athletics: Academics Typically, an academic
core course belongs to one of the five major academic disciplines: What should my course load be? While there will be some variations with electives from year to year, at minimum your course load should include five academic core courses each year (if possible). Be aware that selective colleges pay close attention to the difficulty level of your course load, so do not settle for the path of least resistance. Play to your strengths. Take the most challenging courses you can manage in each discipline. Students who make the most of course offerings at the high school level will appeal to college admission committees. Colleges are academic institutions first and foremost; they want to admit the most intellectually capable and accomplished applicants. In all but a few cases, your academic record – the courses you took and your performance in those courses – will be the single most important factor in an admission decision. Which grade do colleges prefer, an “A” in an Honors course or a “B” in an AP course? Admission professionals routinely state that they want students to challenge themselves with classes that suit their talents and abilities. Students who are willing to enhance their curriculum with an honors or Advanced Placement course, even though the grade may not be certain, will capture the attention of admission counselors. Do fine arts courses factor into my grade point average (GPA)? While Lake Highland includes all courses when it computes grade point averages, some fine arts courses may not be considered a part of your GPA by some colleges/universities. Fine Arts courses can, however, improve your chances of admission assuming you do well in them. Students who demonstrate artistic talent may have an advantage over many of their fellow applicants because they appear to be slightly different from the norm. It is important to emphasize aspects of your application that set you apart from the crowd. Colleges are looking for a diversity of talents and a range of interests. Artistic talent is not universal; if you have such a talent, nurture it, stretch it, and reveal it. Standardized Test: What is the PSAT and why is it important? The College and Career Center recommends that all students take the
PSAT in grades nine, ten, and eleven for practice before beginning to take
the SAT I. Since students receive detailed information concerning their
performance on the PSAT, it becomes an important study guide for the What standardized tests are required for admission to college? When? The great majority of colleges and universities require scores from one or more of the following tests: the SAT I; the SAT II (formerly Achievement Tests), a set of subject tests designed to evaluate students’ abilities in specific disciplines; or the ACT. Students at Lake Highland follow a structured calendar, a calendar designed to meet all college deadlines: Ninth Grade: October - PSAT (Preliminary SAT) Tenth Grade: October - PSAT Eleventh Grade: October -
PSAT (for National Merit Scholarship competition) Twelfth Grade: Early Fall
- SAT I, SAT II’s, ACT (for improvement of scores
or if not For additional
information regarding standardized testing, please refer to the Standardized
Testing section of the College and What are SAT II Subject Tests? The College Entrance Examination Board (CEEB) has developed standardized tests in many school subjects to measure the level of knowledge which students have acquired. Each SAT II: Subject Test (formerly Achievement Test) is one hour in length and consists of a series of multiple-choice questions. You may take up to three SAT II: Subject Tests on a single administration date. Do I need to take the ACT? If so, when should I schedule it? LHPS counselors recommend
taking both the SAT I and ACT at least one time in
preparation for the college admission process. Taking both tests will allow
the student to realize which test is more appropriate for him/her. Six test
dates for the ACT occur each school year. The College and How do colleges use standardized test results? Standardized tests are
rarely the most important factor in an admission decision, but the scores
provide one of the very few means by which colleges can evaluate students
across the country. Standardized test scores, then, form part of the total
picture of an applicant. For example, colleges have higher expectations of
students who come from educated, English-speaking homes. (Note: Students who
are non-native English speakers may wish to take the Test of English as a
Foreign Language (TOEFL). Check with your counselor to determine whether this
test is appropriate for you.) Every school uses test scores differently. To
get an idea of the range of scores for which schools are looking, consult the
schools website or the guidebooks in the College and Am I able to choose which scores to send to colleges? Educational Testing Services (ETS), the organization that sponsors SAT I testing, maintains a cumulative file of all SAT I scores for an individual student. Students may not choose which scores to send. However, most colleges and universities will look for the highest scores from different test dates. Please check with individual colleges or universities for their specific policy. The ACT score reporting process is not cumulative. Students are able to choose which score(s) they want sent to colleges. What can I do to get ready for standardized tests? Work diligently in a challenging course load. Never miss an opportunity to build your vocabulary. Make sure you have mastered algebraic and geometric formulae and equations. Some students have benefited from outside assistance such as printed test prep guides, private individual tutoring, and/or group tutoring by an outside company. Above all read, read, read. And when you are done with reading, read some more. How do I register for the SAT or ACT? The College and Lake Highland’s CEEB code
is 101-294. College Planning: When should I start the college search? Investigating the
thousands of colleges available can be a daunting task if you are not aware of
the many resources that exist to help students begin to navigate the college
search. The traditional times for visiting colleges are spring and summer of junior year and fall of senior year. At those times, armed with college lists and with a growing sense of who you are and what you want, you can be very directed and insightful about your time on college campuses. However, a number of students have found it valuable to visit college campuses on a more informal basis during their eighth, ninth, and tenth grade years, sometimes on vacation, sometimes when they are tagging along while an older sibling conducts his/her search. Keep an open mind. Take special note of what you like and what you do not like about a campus. Use these informal visits as an opportunity to begin piecing together your picture of the ideal college. What do colleges consider when evaluating students? In considering the admissibility of students each institution establishes a set of criteria by which to evaluate students. These criteria include the secondary school grade point average, the nature and type of courses taken, the record of co-curricular and extra-curricular activities, performance on the SAT and/or ACT, essay, and interview. It is wise to research the importance each college assigns to these criteria in preparing the individual application for admission. How do colleges evaluate extracurricular activities? Quality, not quantity, is the key. Colleges look for talent, dedication, motivation, and accomplishment. A student who spends a great deal of time and energy on one activity is usually more appealing than a student who joins dozens of clubs just to build a resume. Colleges do not expect students to be Superman or Superwoman, but they do want interesting, devoted dynamic people. Extracurricular activities need not be confined to school. In fact, colleges are often quite impressed with students who take the initiative to do something not readily offered them, such as meaningful community service, employment, or creative writing. Identify your talents and interests and pursue them intensely and thoughtfully. Basically, a selective college is one that accepts less than 50% of its applicants. To choose students, the selective college may use a mathematical formula consisting of grades, course selection, and standardized test scores. Or it may consider all of those factors plus more subjective factors like essays, recommendations, and extracurricular activities. The decision-making process is difficult for colleges; many face the task of selecting from hordes of seemingly similar students. In the end, though they may be able to fill their freshman class three times over with qualified candidates, the admission committees admit those students who will be good for their schools, who represent the best “fit” or “match”. For this reason, we at the high school level sit at an equally difficult end of the process: Students can only submit good, carefully completed applications and then await decisions. But assessing realistic choices, a primary role of the counselor, can help avoid disappointment. A few words of caution: It is unfair to equate a school’s selectivity with its quality. Selectivity is too often the product of popularity. What if I do not get accepted into a highly selective college or university? The myth holds that the key to future success is gaining admission to a prestigious school, after which life will flow naturally to fame and fortune. It isn’t that simple. Most students thrive best in academic environments where the demands are consistent with the student’s ability. We strongly believe that “fit,” finding the most appropriate “match” for a student, is paramount. We want Lake Highland graduates to do well in college, to be happy there and, yes, to succeed when they complete their formal educations. We think the best road to that goal is paved with reality and careful selection. Will attending a summer program enhance my chances of gaining admission to a particular institution? Many colleges offer academic summer programs for high school students. These programs usually offer something approaching the full college experience – college level classes, dormitory living, etc. – so they can be an excellent means of gaining perspective about college life. We recommend these programs because they are invariably enriching and because they are a clear indication of a student’s academic motivation. That being said, the advantage gained by a college summer program is not necessarily greater than that gained by having a summer job, spending your summer shooting an original film, completing a significant summer service project or doing any other activity that would show you leading a full dynamic life. Two additional points of caution regarding college summer programs: 1) each program will have a different philosophy about monitoring its students, some quite strict, some surprisingly lax. Make sure to ask about supervision on campus when you research college summer programs; 2) Acceptance to a college’s summer program does not in any way guarantee you admission to the college’s undergraduate program nor does it even give you an edge except in the more general way discussed above. Attend a summer program because you find it intrinsically interesting or significant, not because you have hopes of gaining admission to one of the school’s undergraduate programs. Financial Assistance: FAFSA is the acronym for
Free Application for Federal Student Aid. The income, asset, and demographic
information you provide on the FAFSA serves as the basis for determining the
student’s eligibility for the federal student aid programs and, in many
cases, institutional, state, and private sources of aid. The FAFSA is the
most widely accepted financial aid application. There is no charge to students
for completing the FAFSA. The College and The CSS Profile is a form and service offered by the College Board and used by some colleges, universities, and private scholarship programs to award their own private financial aid funds. Students pay a fee to register for PROFILE and send reports to institutions and programs that use it. Students can register with CSS by calling a toll-free telephone service or by connecting to College Board online at www.collegeboard.com. Please note the CSS/Financial Aid PROFILE is not a federal form and may not be used to apply for federal student aid. What is the In 1997, the Florida
Legislature created the Florida Bright Futures Scholarship Program. This
Florida Lottery-Funded scholarship rewards students for their academic
achievements during high school by providing funding for them to pursue
postsecondary educational and career goals in What GPA and test
scores are required to qualify for a Bright Futures scholarship?
NCAA/College Athletics: Who should register with the NCAA Clearinghouse? Any student who plans to attend an NCAA Division I or II institution AND who wishes to participate in intercollegiate athletics needs to register with the NCAA Clearinghouse. Visit the NCAA Initial-Eligibility Clearinghouse website at www.ncaaclearinghouse.net. How soon should I register with the NCAA Clearinghouse? You should apply for certification after your junior year in high school if you plan to participate in intercollegiate athletics as a freshman at a Division I or II institution. The Clearinghouse will not process a transcript with fewer than six semesters shown on the transcript. If you fail to submit all required documents, your incomplete file will be discarded after three years, requiring you to pay a new fee if certification is requested after that time. What is a National Letter of Intent (NLI)? By signing a National Letter of Intent (NLI), a prospective student-athlete agrees to attend the designated college or university for one academic year. Pursuant to the terms of the National Letter of Intent program, participating institutions agree to provide athletics financial aid for one academic year to the student-athlete, provided he/she is admitted to the institution and is eligible for financial aid under NCAA rules. An important provision of the National Letter of Intent program is a recruiting prohibition applied after a prospective student-athlete signs a Letter of Intent. This prohibition requires participating institutions to cease recruitment of a prospective student-athlete once a National Letter of Intent is signed with another institution. To read the text of a National Letter of Intent or to learn more about the NLI, please visit the NLI website at www.national-letter.org. |